Translucent
by CatchingWind
Summary: "To be honest, I'm happy for them, especially when they seemed so upset when it didn't work in the first place. But everything comes with a price. And I paid majorly for it." What actually happened during the portal incident and past. Genderbended Danny IMPORTANT NOTICE INSIDE 6/23/13
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, I keep coming up with ideas for this, but never end up writing them down, so this is it right here.**

**Pretty much my interpretation of the initial portal accident and a bit into the first season, which will be the basis of all stories past and present except those that fall into the "Restart" universe. Its accident will be veerrrry similar, just with the concepts that make it "Restart".**

**The little numbers inside parentheses mean that there's a note at the bottom referring to the sentence(s)/phrase(s), explaining what goes through my head when I think about this.**

**Gender-bended Danny in this. Don't ask why, I just… do. Suddenly obsessed with the idea though. :) **

**Disclaimer: I only own my thoughts, ideas, and interpretations. And a wicked awesome Tony Romo jersey. ;D**

Translucent

_March 1__st__, 2004 __**(1)**_

I'd like to say it wasn't my fault.

But then I'd be lying.

Maybe I can blame it on my parents, but that's immoral. They were the ones who built the stupid contraption in the first place! They thought that they were the ones who got it started up and working, when it was actually all me. To be honest, I'm happy for them, especially since they seemed so upset when it didn't work in the first place.

But everything comes with a price.

And I paid majorly for this.

When I woke up this bright, wonderful Saturday morning, I figured, _Hey, nothing can go wrong today! _

First of all, how cliché is that?

Second of all, why in the world would I think such a thing as that? I've seen all of those stupid cartoons that I used to watch when I was a kid, where something bad always happens to the person or people who say "What could possibly go wrong?" or something along those lines.

But mere moments after I thought those six little words, my dad bustled up the stairs, grabbed me by my arm, and dragged me down the stairs. I was a little embarrassed at first, having just woken up, but was reassured by the fact that Sam, Tucker, and I had spent last night, the all-honored February 29th, partying **(2)**. It's a tradition between the three of us (and our parents even extend our curfews an extra half-hour for) that's been going on since we were six. We spend every February 29th at the arcade, the local Nasty Burger, the rec center, everywhere. Tuck thinks that when we're 22 and we're doing this that we should get drunk. I oppose, although Sam is leaning a little towards his desires. Hopefully in eight years they'll change their minds.

But anyway, since I got home late last night, I didn't bother to change out of my clothes. Boring hoodie, boring shorts, I even kept my shoes on. My beanie hat was a little jostled from being slept on, but I managed to make it look presentable with my free arm as I bounced down the steps.

When we reached the landing, my father didn't stop like he usually does, he just kept on going, eventually whisking me into the kitchen and through the door that led into my parents' private lab.

Before today, I'd never been allowed down here, partially because of my own choosing. Some of their work creeps me out. Jazz has gone down there once in a blue moon, but not often. Lately, they'd been working their butts off down here, preparing something that would 'change the entire fate of the twenty-first century', as my mother proclaimed. With both kids out of the house last night (Jazz was at a slumber party), they must've finally perfected it.

'It' turned out to be a giant hole in the wall.

I expected something a little more… grander than a big hole in the wall. Heck, I could've done that if I weren't so lazy. But as my dad dragged me closer I saw that it was outlined in steel and coated with circuit boards and wires on the inside. What, was it some kind of DNA chamber?

"Tada!" Dad exclaimed, dropping me abruptly on the floor and causing me to land on my face. "Behold, the newest breakthrough in ghostly sciences!"

Yeah. Ghosts.

"Ghosts don't exist, Dad," I reminded him for about the billionth time. I was a moody teenager; I didn't really want to be bothered on my now not-so-perfect day.

"Oh, but this will prove you wrong, sweetie!" Mom told me excitedly as she rose from her kneeling position on the floor, removing her jumpsuit hood. Locks of mahogany hair tumbled out, and bright violet eyes were revealed to the slight dimness of the lab. In her hands, she held a plug and extension, both of which were pretty large. She held them out to Dad, who took them eagerly.

"This is the Fenton Ghost Portal, designed to allow us to travel into the ghostly realm, which we have determined is known as the 'Ghost Zone'," my mother began as she tried to prevent Dad from jamming the two mechanical objects together. "There, we will be able to study ghosts and prove they exist, making our work so much easier!"

"But won't ghosts be able to come out?" I asked skeptically, deciding to play along with their little fantasy for now. Why disappoint them when they'd clearly been waiting on this day for a while now?

"Don't be silly, Danielle, we put a door on it!" my dad reassured me as he once again attempted to connect the plug and extension.

Yeah, like a _door _will keep out all-powerful ghosts, if they even exist.

Finally, Mom allowed him to press the two cords together. He did so with a grin that stretched from ear to ear on his face. When the two met, a spark issued from the connection point and traveled down the wire. I stayed a fair distance back, glancing up worriedly when the lights in the lab dimmed even further from power surge. The visible spark continued its way into the supposed portal, caused everything to light up, and then…

…nothing.

And I didn't want to disappoint them.

I won't go into too many details, as it did nearly break my heart (just because I'm a teenager doesn't mean I'm heartless! They're my parents!), but let's just say there was a lot of crying (from my dad), a lot of consoling babble (from my mom), and then my parents trudged up the stairs, muttering they were going out for a while. I didn't mind, since they deserved it.

I don't believe in their ghostly theories (or ghosts), but I did support them in their projects. I heard the garage door close directly above me, and the house was left silent, except for…

… it was too hard to explain. I guess a mechanical hum will do. I peered around to see if anything else was on, but every screen and contraption was inanimate due to the small power surge.

But if the power going into the portal had been cut off, then why were the overhead lights still dim? Why, when I followed the sound of the hum, did the sound emit from the supposedly dead portal? Why, when I looked up, were the circuit boards still lit an icy blue that matched my eyes perfectly?

Something was off here…

No, I should just leave it alone. I didn't know how to work any of this advanced equipment, even though my parents have probably explained things over and over again.

But still…

It would be interesting to find out what laid beyond the depths of the portal. If it actually worked, that was.

Oh…

Racing upstairs with curiosity getting the better of me, I grabbed the first matching jumpsuit I saw, which turned out to be two pieces, not including the gloves or boots. Black and white decorated the outer layer, and the inner layer was a soft, fleece-like fabric, except it didn't exactly keep me warm. I pulled it on only to discover that the shirt part was a bit too small. It didn't quite cover my stomach, but what harm could it be?

I sneaked inside the portal, the soles of my boots creating a metallic echo with every step I took. Wires littered the ground, and I took care not to trip over them.

It was only about six feet deep, probably a little shorter in height. The back had a small circle with spokes spraying out from it, which is where I supposed the energy flowed out from. Maybe there was something wrong with it…

I took another step forward and lost my balance while stepping on a bundle of wires I didn't manage to catch. My left hand instantly flew out to steady myself, but it was brought down by the rest of my body when I didn't manage to regain my composure.

As I lay on the ground for one quiet moment, I ran through what'd just happened in my head.

I could've sworn I heard a click…

In that instant, I heard a new sound, one of a much louder whirring, one that signaled something starting up. Had I broken something, which ended the power surge and allowed contraptions to light up again? No, because a green light flooded the mini cavern, bathing me in its sudden brightness. I put a hand to my brow to shield my eyes and saw that I was right – energy was swirling together in that little circle, flowing outwards on the spokes and into the rest of the portal. Maybe I didn't break it…

My eyes flickered up and I saw something that made my heart sink lower than I already was.

Encased in a little box were a red and a green button which read 'off' and 'on' respectively.

And the green one had been depressed.

While I was still inside.

All of that happened in probably three seconds. I tried to make my way to my feet, but it was too late. The energy got to massive for the spokes and other wires to handle, and it was distributed throughout the entire portal, including on me.

Now, the energy was a substance my parents tend to work with called ectoplasm, the thing ghosts are supposedly made out of. It's thinner than blood and only slightly thicker than water, but it has the properties of both. It gives life and all that stuff, plus the cells inside of it carry the water and all that junk.

But that's the properties of blood, and I said that ectoplasm contains the properties of water as well.

Which means that it's a good conductor for electricity.

The two things that were encasing me in that moment.

…

I can't explain it. All I can say is that it hurt. And it had to be negative 1000 degrees in there. I knew it was instant death, being severely electrocuted. My body would probably found in ashes, unidentifiable.

Thankfully, it hurt for about two seconds, because then, instead of a vast and endless green field, I saw something different.

It was as if I were in a long tunnel, and the exit was far away. The bright, warm white light beckoned me, and I followed it eagerly. It felt like I were floating or walking on air or something. I moved at a rapid pace, a smile growing on my face as I neared the end.

And then, exactly halfway between my starting point and the end, it felt like a semi, twenty big football players, and a hundred anvils slammed into my side at once. I was knocked out of the view of the mysterious light, and I wanted to cry out. I actually _did _cry out when I felt a horrible, sharp pain right on my upper forearm, directly under my right wrist. **(3)**

A voice spoke to me the moment the pain in my wrist matched the pain resounding throughout my entire body:

_Go. Fulfill your destiny, child. It is not your time yet._

That was probably the worst of it all. Hearing the gravelly voice speak to me, echoing throughout wherever I was.

I wanted that light back so bad. It seemed like the ultimate comfort, where I wanted to be. Why had my journey been stopped like that? Did I do something wrong?

I was greeted with a different light: the radiation coming from the ectoplasm. The feeling of the heavy things slamming into me was lifted only to be replaced by a sharp pain that pulsated within me. I felt a new energy flood me, but this newfound power did not give me the strength to stumble to my feet.

A buzzing sensation ran through me; a very cold one. My skin, though, felt as if it were being stretched and burned, if you know what I mean. My head was pulsing with each of my exaggerated heartbeats, which, throughout the craziness of it all, I could've sworn was getting slower and slower until it was beating, like, every fifteen seconds. And fifteen seconds is a long time when you're getting shocked, or whatever was happening to me. My mouth was open slightly; I couldn't scream for some reason. My vocal cords seemed to just quit vibrating. Instead, I almost choked on my own saliva from freaking out, therefore making a disgusting, pained gurgling sound.

The ache was getting worse by the moment, and I knew I would die if I didn't get out right then. Struggling more than I ever had in my life, I put my left hand out, groping for the wall, the edge of the portal, anything to guide me out. I was blinded by the ectoplasmic electricity, as I have now dubbed it.

My fingers hit something hard, then extended into a much warmer atmosphere. I gripped onto the hard thing and pulled with all the might I had left. It surprised me how much energy I still had left within me, so when I managed to make myself literally flip out of the generated portal, I was stunned.

I didn't really have much time to consider what in the world had just happened before I passed out.

It turned out the thing had two switches – the power cord and the button. Why they didn't put the button on the outside, like a normal person would, I don't know. But, unlucky for me, I was the one to activate the second switch – and get shocked to death for it.

… But to be honest, I don't know whether I'm dead or not.

See, when I woke up, I was really dazed. Don't harass me. Go get yourself electrocuted and see how you feel. But when I stirred on the cold linoleum of the laboratory, I was confused. If I were waking up, why not in my bed, or at least on the couch? But then, when I shifted my head just a little, I saw the swirling green land that was now the activated portal, and everything came back to me full force.

Urg.

I was sick and tired of it. It'd caused me pain and torture, and I never wanted to see the stuff for the rest of my life. Hadn't Dad said they installed a door on that thing? I finally saw the black and yellow striped button labeled 'DOOR' in big, capital letters.

That's my father for you. As subtle as an elephant parading through a tiny little town.

I staggered to my feet (it was really hard, to let you know) and eventually made my way over to where the button was located. I slammed it with my fist, and two interlocking doors with patterns that matched the button hissed out from secret hideaways I managed not to notice.

Sweet relief.

Much to my surprise, the lights in the room had brightened to their normal intensity and a few of the computers had even started up. I raised a hand to wipe off my brow, but paused when I noticed the color.

Okay, at the time I was still quite discombobulated, but I could've sworn that before I got shocked, the glove on my right hand was white.

But it was black.

I looked down at the rest of my shirt, which seemed to have inverted colors as well as the rest of my outfit. Thankfully, my skin wasn't some neon blue or a weird alien color…

… but did the same hold true for the rest of my features?

I whipped my head around a few times (which turned out not to be the best choice, since I still had a dull hurt lingering in my body) and found a computer screen that was still darkened. Being a teenage girl, I knew it was a reflective surface and it would suffice for a mirror.

But boy, did I regret finding the screen when I saw my face's reflection.

The hair that I took care to keep straight was still in its normal ponytail, but instead of the 'luxurious' midnight black Sam claims it to be, it was a perfect, stark white, like somebody had dumped a whole bunch of bleach on my head. I raised a cautious hand up to pat it to make sure the reflection actually was mine.

It was.

And then for my eyes?

They were the scariest of all.

You know how I mentioned they were a nice, icy blue, or baby blue, or however you want to put it? Well, they'd transformed into these startling, radioactive _green _ones that seemed so lifeless. When I looked into them, I couldn't see any emotion whatsoever, whereas my normal eyes can usually tell you something. They were just green.

Like the stuff in the portal…

I instantly turned away. Like I said, I never wanted to see the color again in my life.

After that little scenario, I collapsed to the floor and began to hyperventilate. My appearance had undergone drastic changes that I had _nothing _to do with, I'd just gotten over being _shocked to death_ (or not, perhaps), and I was just plain freaking out.

Talk about PTSD.

Don't ask me how I did it, but I managed to make my way up here and into my room, where I'm writing this now. I still look really weird, and I want to change it. I'm not sure how, but all I can see right now in my head is this picture of me that's hanging right behind me now. Oh man, how I wish –

…

Oh.

My.

Gosh.

Okay, you seriously won't believe me when I say this, but _I just changed back to normal_.

Like a snap.

Okay, so I was thinking about regular me, right? Black hair, blue eyes, yada yada yada. Then, there was this big old tug in my gut, kind of right behind my navel. I felt that same energy that had flooded me in the portal earlier just kind of _fwoomp _out, and it formed these really bright rings of light around my waist.

Unfortunately, they were the same color as the light at the end of that tunnel.

But anyway, one went towards my feet, and the other went towards the top of my head. When they got done traveling or whatever, I looked down, and my normal, everyday clothes were back on. I checked in the mirror, and guess what? NORMALTY.

What the heck did that portal do to me?

_March 2__nd__, 2004_

I may have some hints as to what happened to me yesterday.

Before I go into detail about that, let me just say that Mom and Dad were _super _pleased when they got home to find that – surprise, surprise! – all that the portal needed was a little time to gather up electricity to activate.

Yeah. I lied to them.

I fed the story to them, and they ate it up like Dad eats his fudge. Right now, they're doing some post-activation tests and sending in a couple of observational rover-like things to see what happens. But I told them that I waited for it to start, keeping the fact that I got freaking _electrocuted _by it to myself.

Hey, in my defense, I was still a bit stunned at the time. I kind of _wanted _to tell them, but… I have no idea how they'd react. I never wanted to look like that again or see that color, so as soon as they announced they would open it again, I stowed away and into my room.

But anywho, let's focus on what's happened today so far, shall we?

When I woke up this morning, I stayed in bed for a few more minutes, telling myself that whole phenomenon yesterday was just some freaky nightmare. I was awake now, and when I went downstairs, things would be like any normal Sunday.

Except it wasn't.

My parents were babbling on and on about things that they could do now that the Fenton Ghost Portal was fully activated. They were so focused on the topic that Mom let the toast burn. Not that I'd eat it anyway, but still. Jazz, who'd not been too happy to hear about this new revelation, was scowling behind some stupid psychology book of hers. How she wants to be a psychologist, I have no idea. I want to be an astronaut. Maybe a science gene runs in the family or something.

After breakfast, I stealthily made my way into the lab, just to prove my parents wrong and to show that maybe I was still dreaming. Yet when I landed on the linoleum floor, I looked up and my heart sank to my toes. The hazard-patterned door was still there, blocking out the view of that nasty green substance that still made me sick to my stomach at the thought.

I just stood there for a while, observing the thing. Had this really electrocuted me yesterday and turned me into that… monster? Was it all an illusion? I tapped on the steel doors, which resounded back with a hollow echo. There was no sure telling whether the inside was filled to the brim with ectoplasmic energy or just one big electrical panel.

So I did what I thought was unthinkable.

I opened it one last time.

But as soon as I saw the first signals of radioactive green, I slammed my hand back down on the button and leaned back against the wall, panting heavily.

Yesterday _hadn't _been a dream. All of it was reality. Even the creepy appearance that I had for who-knows-how-long.

I slowly slid down the plaster wall, my head in my hands. I was beginning to hyperventilate again. Surely I had post-traumatic stress disorder. What else would explain the way I was acting? Energy inside of me built up, especially in the very center of my body, and I couldn't get the haunting image of the creature that I determined wasn't me out of my head.

Then the same thing that happened yesterday happened again, only reverse this time.

I felt a different kind of energy take over my very being, and I dared not to look at my clothing. I knew it'd changed. For one thing, my midsection felt suddenly cold, as if it were revealed to the air. My forehead no longer felt the calloused skin of my hands; it was now a slippery, yet tightly woven fabric that was rubbing up against it. Finally, I worked up the courage to raise my head. Dangling in front of my eyes were a few of my longer bangs, which were the color of snow.

No. No no no no no.

I literally had to cover my mouth so as not to scream out loud.

This was not happening. I couldn't possibly be this _thing _again. I swore to –

No. I'm not going to say it. I don't know who may get a hold of this, whether it be a five year old or a fifty year old.

I was on my feet in an instant, probably moving faster than I ever have in my life. Even faster than when Dash is chasing me down the hallways, threatening a life's worth of locker stuffings and wedgies. Why he has the morality to give wedgies to girls, I don't know. But I paced back and forth, freaking out.

This wasn't supposed to happen again! How had this happened? What were the similarities between today and yesterday?

Both times, I'd imagined the other appearance than the one I was in at the time. Both times, there'd been a weird sensation in my gut. Both times, energy built up and just spread out in the form of those odd rings of light, which had ended up flowing over me in two different directions.

So then what did that all mean?

My panic was beginning to rise a bit further. Sure, my intellect is far from Jazz's, but I tend to get frustrated when I can't figure something out. Especially math. But this was science, my best subject. I always understood science.

The panic was altered into energy. Haven't you ever felt that way, where you get so worked up you just _have _to do something about it? It was like the two transformation times; the energy just compiled together until it had nowhere to go.

The entire time, my pace continued to grow more and more rapid until I was almost running. I wasn't watching where I was going, so when I looked up, I yelped a little bit when I saw a wall fast approaching me. I put up my arms to shield me and I attempted to stop, but, just like in the portal, I tripped over a discarded invention and flew forward. I thought it was going to hurt real bad, but then…

… I may have been crazy, but I went _through _the wall.

I'd had my eyes closed as if that would stop the pain, but when I opened them, I couldn't see _anything_. It was pitch black, except for… what was that? My eyes began to adjust, and I thought there was nothing to adjust to at first.

That's when I noticed my body.

It was freaking _glowing._

I knew something was up right then. Glowing bodies? Unheard of. It was a scientific phenomenon.

_Okay, _I told myself. _Just calm down. Figure out where you are, and then progress from there. _It's what Mr. Felucca, my most favorite science teacher, always told us during a lab.

I used my dim natural glow that I was still a bit weirded out by to observe my surroundings. Things were mostly made of… dirt, I think, and what looked like rock. Was I underground? That made sense, if I'd gone through the basement wall. But how was I still breathing, and more importantly…

… how come I wasn't feeling the cool soil or hard rock?

The breathing thing I couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation for. As for the why-can't-I-feel-anything issue, I took one look at my torso and figured it out.

My body was like fog; see-through, but very misty. It was still emitting a glow, and if I looked hard enough, I could still see a couple of details, such as my belly button. **(4) **

This I knew. My parents had showed me the diagrams multiple times before today. I bit my lip (although it was kind of hard, since I was basically a cloud) and tried to ignore it, but the signs were too obvious.

I was intangible.

Apparently, intangibility is where one becomes untouchable by any object, animal, or person, unless if it radiates the same energy that the intangible thing does. It's a common ability, or 'power' that my parents have taught me about, just so I know a ghost's 'defense mechanisms'. They use ectoplasmic energy to create their ghost shields, since it burns off the same energy a ghost does. That way, the spirit can't enter… or exit.

Okay, this was really out of whack. I shouldn't be able to become intangible! Only ghosts have that ability, as far as I know.

Yet there I was, sitting in the middle of the earth, not feeling the pressure of any of it.

I'm somewhat claustrophobic, so the more I panicked about doing something no other human could do, the more the dirt seemed to envelope me, even though it wasn't able to touch me. I would've hyperventilated – _again_ – but that's when I started to freak out even more.

I _couldn't _breathe.

Well, not couldn't breathe. I just didn't feel the need to. But it was still creepy, nonetheless. Even if my lungs weren't in this condition, I wouldn't have been able to breathe anyway, thanks to pressure.

My hand flew up to my neck to feel for a pulse, but then remembered that I wouldn't be able to feel it anyway. I had to get out of this place.

… How was I supposed to get out of this place?

I sat there for a while, debating on ways on how to escape. If I made my way behind me, I'd probably hit the basement. But how could I be sure that behind me was the right way? I've moved a lot since getting stuck in this position. The only safe way to go was up.

How did I go up?

Eventually, I ended up doing a doggie-paddle thing while pushing my legs out like a frog. Pathetic and disturbing, I know. But I had absolutely no clue as to how else I was supposed to move.

When I hit air, I took a deep breath in joy. It was a reassuring thing that I could still breathe if I wanted to, so I started to just to feel normal. It took a bit of effort though.

I looked around at the litter decorating the ground, the two dumpsters for each building I was in between, the colors of the brick on each building. The one in front of me was a pale, chalky white, while the one behind me was dark brown, the color of rust.

My home.

Well, at least I knew where I was.

I managed to pull myself out of the ground, but almost instantly began to sink back through it. How did I regain tangibility?

I thought back to the transformations (they still made me shiver in horror) and how those were triggered. Then, I was under great stress and I was imagining the opposite image. Could it possibly…

I wasn't under great stress, even though I was still a bit panicky. But I tried imaging myself as a solid being that wasn't sinking through the ground or floating in the middle of hard-packed dirt.

And I finally felt the ground beneath my feet.

It was sweet relief. I was tempted to get down on the ground and kiss the asphalt, but didn't. I let out a cry of victory and jumped into the air with my fist punched up.

But when I should've been pulled back down by gravity, I wasn't.

I was hovering in midair.

_Flying._

This wiped away any sense of happiness that I'd had moments ago. I was a good foot off the ground, but a foot, a mile, three inches, I was still just, floating there. Bobbing up and down slightly, but still hovering.

I should've known the minute I didn't start falling in the dirt. Oddly enough, I hadn't felt a gravitational pull on me then, and I didn't now. I thought back to when Mom and Dad had lectured me on a ghost's powers and how one of them was flying. A ghost can cut their link with gravity at their own bidding and propel and steer themselves to fly, like Superman fly.

Could I do that, too?

I struck a superhero pose, sticking my fists out in front of me and turning my body horizontally. I didn't go anywhere, though, despite my efforts. Sure, they weren't the best efforts, but still. Was there some way I could propel myself? Maybe the same theory would hold true, that if I imagined myself doing the opposite, it would happen.

I was almost mad at myself for doing it, but I imagined myself flying through the air, twisting and turning and loop-the-loop-ing. I concentrated hard on the image, squeezing my eyes as tight as I could without getting dizzy.

And I still didn't go anywhere.

After that futile attempt, I tried a bunch of things before I gave up and just yelled _Forward! _in my head. Instantaneously, I began zooming forward towards the end of the alley, where a brick wall came fast approaching me.

I shut my eyes again, as if that would make things go away. _Up! _I told myself sharply, trying to steer myself up. It happened, and I soon found myself twenty feet in the air. I managed to stop and catch my breath. **(5)**

I had to admit, it was pretty cool.

I slowly and clumsily made my way to my bedroom window, which faced the alley, commanding my body to move in different directions the entire time. I pushed open my window and tumbled onto the floor, where I got up and started writing this as fast as I could.

Yeah, I haven't even bothered to change back to normal.

But a million questions are flying through my head right now. What if there's no way to take this creepy stuff away? Will I ever get to the point where I don't have to concentrate on doing these things? Why am I thinking like that?

…

You know how at the beginning of this entry, I said I may have some hints?

Scratch that.

I have a freaking billboard.

I think (and brace yourselves for this)…

I think I may be dead…

_March 3__rd__, 2004_

Today was Monday. _Is _Monday.

My first day at school as a dead freako.

All day long I was jumpy and nervous, which caused these… abilities to go out of whack. During science, my hand kept turning intangible and I kept dropping beakers full of fluid. Eventually, I was told to just take notes. I didn't fly anywhere, thank goodness, or change to creepy-me at all, but I did discover something else I have in my freaky arsenal of… things.

Invisibility.

See, during math class, the teacher next door got mad and shoved a desk into the wall **(6)**, which caused me to jump. When I settled back down and went to copy the rest of the problems off of the board, _I couldn't see my hand_.

At all.

I used my opposite thinking trick and managed to get it back to normal before anybody noticed, fortunately. I made it a full two minutes before I had another ability mishap, though.

My two friends, Sam and Tucker noticed the way I was acting all day, and they constantly questioned me about it. I really wanted to blurt everything out, right there in the hallway, but the school bully, Dash, kept tracking me down and shoving me around. I still can't believe he has the morality to hit _girls_. Boys is bad enough, but bullying girls? That's Paulina's job.

Still, I can't help but drool over him.

…

Did I seriously just write that?

Anyway, I promised them that I would tell them everything after school, which is now. They were to meet me at my house, which is here, and then I would tell them everything.

Since I knew they both had after-school clubs to handle today, I decided to take the time to practice the flying. I've come to the conclusion that, although I hate everything else that's happened to me in the past couple of days, flying is okay. It really is! Feeling the wind in your hair, going faster than imaginable…

I practiced enough while trying to get home that I barely have to tell myself to go a certain direction anymore. I just… do it. Don't ask me to explain it, because it's too hard to. Either you can or you can't, if you know what I mean.

But anyway, even though I did well controlling-wise, I didn't do so well time-wise. They're going to be here any minute, and I want to think through what I want to say…

_Still March 3__rd__, 2004_

They're gone.

Almost three hours after I wrote that last sentence, they're gone.

It took awhile to explain everything, as they didn't believe me at first. I had to turn my arm invisible using my little trick to prove to them I wasn't dreaming or anything.

Reactions?

Tucker thinks I'm some hybrid-superhero thing, like Clark Kent, except he wasn't a hybrid. He came from outer space as a full-superpowered baby. The hybrid thing _could _be a possibility, but I'm doubting it. I think It was just a wild guess of his, as I left out the part about my appearance changing. And the flying. That was just too hard to explain in the moment. But he thinks I should be a superhero or something. Get a cape and a mask and call myself Ghoul Girl or something. The minute he said that, Sam and I both punched him. I don't want to think of myself as a ghoul, or a ghost, or anything related to that.

Speaking of Sam, she wanted to go down and see the portal, but I refused. The thing still sent chills up my spine every time I thought about it. She got mad at me, even when I tried to explain my reasoning behind it. She cooled down after awhile, thankfully. She always does. She doesn't agree with Tucker on the whole 'Danielle-is-a-superhero' thing, like me. That's one thing we agree on.

But I made them swear to keep it a secret. I don't want this getting out at all, not even to my parents. Yet. I may tell them later, but…

I don't know what to do. The only thing I've told the entire story to is this journal…

_March 15__th__, 2004_

Wow. Can't believe it's been this long since I've written in this thing.

Gonna be a short entry today, just because I'm really tired and exhausted after what just happened.

I just had my first ghost fight.

It was a bird thing, like a phoenix. I don't think it put up much of a fight, but it seemed like it to me. Probably because I'm inexperienced at this…

Anyway, despite it being March 15th **(7) **I had a pretty good day at school. No mishaps, thanks to a great amount of concentration from me and a great amount of encouragement from Sam and Tucker.

But as we were walking home from school, that phoenix-ghost thing just came right up to us and snatched my two friends.

A weird thing happened right before that, though. The air seemed to turn really cold, and a strange chill ran through me. Just one, though. The chill ran up my throat and into my mouth, where I was forced to open it and let out a burst of sky blue mist. It wasn't like see-your-breath-in-the-cold mist, it was _blue_.

Three seconds after that, the ghost came.

Don't ask me how I knew it was a ghost, I just did.

Instincts took over after that. Before I knew it, I'd switched to creepy-me and proceeded to beat up the bird-brain. Either the thing was really weak or I suddenly became the strongest teenager on Earth, because it flew away looking pretty battered.

I didn't want Sam and Tucker to see me, because I still haven't told them about my second appearance, so I panicked and made my way home via flight. Speaking of which, I don't even have to tell myself to go a direction anymore. I'm really proud of myself.

I'm trying to tell myself that was a one-time thing, saving Sam and Tucker from that ghost. After all, they're my _friends_. I wouldn't just abandon them.

But yet, it felt so _right_, like I was meant to do it all along.

And now I can't get those mysterious words out of my head from two weeks ago during the accident:

_Fulfill your destiny, child…_

_April 22__nd__, 2004_

Don't ask me where I've been, because I've been so busy it's not even funny.

Get ready for the story of a lifetime.

Anyway, about three weeks ago, near the beginning of the month, I made my first _real _ghost enemy.

A lunch lady.

As docile as it sounds, this chick really isn't. She's like this… bipolar ghost who can't make up her mind and is obsessed with meat. But, long story short, Sam persuaded the school board to experiment with a new lunch menu for a week, one that complied with her diet, which she claims is called ultra-recyclo vegetarianism.

This lunch lady ghost came out of the portal (where that phoenix came from) and got really mad at Sam. Well, more like the three of us, since Tucker and I were right there with her.

They knew of my second appearance and my ability to fly after that little incident.

Backing up a little, about a week before this, we finally decided that I _had _to be some kind of hybrid. I had a pulse occasionally, but not all the time. And sometimes I would just quit breathing in random moments. I still didn't tell them about those two things.

But I knew as the lunch lady ghost prepared to attack I had to do something, and I'd be a lot more useful in my ghost form (as I have now dubbed my second appearance). So I transformed and flew up to fight her, leaving a stunned Sam and Tucker behind. **(8)**

Well, even though the situation involved a protest war between my two friends (carnivores versus vegetarians/hippies) and a soup thermos, everything turned out alright in the end. I actually managed to capture the lunch lady psycho in the thermos (my dad invented it to catch and contain ghosts).

But I got involved in my second major fight today.

Well, maybe it's my third, but it was with the same ghost – a big, blue dragon.

I'm not kidding either. The first time I fought it was when my dad was in the bathroom and I was in the lab holding a fishing rod (don't ask). It turned into this girl who was whining about not being able to go to a ball of some sort.

One thing led to another, and I found myself giving Dash this amulet to give to Paulina so he would go to the dance with me. The amulet wasn't mine; I didn't know whose it was. But he gave it to Paulina, and I had a date for the dance. No, I still have a date for the dance.

But today at the mall, I don't know what happened. I was eating my fries like a normal teenager when my ghost sense (that freaky blue mist that tastes disgusting) went off. The same dragon was there, except this time, it was ranting about wanting a 'fleecy tee'. I used some witty banter and told it coffee would make it jittery and that tea was a good idea.

But I also introduced myself to it.

Now I know what you're thinking: that's no big deal. Well, first of all, introducing yourself to a dragon is something lunatics do (although at the moment I was trying to be witty), and second of all, I didn't introduce myself as myself, if you know what I mean.

The conversation went something like this, as best as I can remember: **(9)**

"Hi! I didn't get to properly introduce myself last time! I'm Dani Phantom, and you are…"

-Insert roar from dragon and it knocking me into hotdog stand-

"Testy. Got it."

-End conversation-

Did you see something in that sentence that was off?

_Dani Phantom? _Where in the world did that come from?

Okay, Dani is what people at school call me, since there are a couple 'Danielle's, not including me. I decided to be unique and call myself Dani. Plus I get to play with people and make them think I'm some punk boy. So that's where the first half came from. I usually introduce myself as Dani anyway. Now, as for Phantom? No clue. It sounds a lot like 'Fenton', but I'm a ghost, and phantom is another word for ghost…

I don't know. It just happened in a snap, like the first transformation. **(10) **

But now I guess I am some kind of superhero, now that I've gotten involved in a couple different ghost fights and made a secret identity for myself.

How cliché is my life now?

Did I ever tell y'all about this?

You know that pain I felt in my wrist during the tunnel thing? I forgot to mention this in the last entry, but I found out what it was while I was showering.

I now have a brand on the inside of my wrist, one that's shaped like a 'D' with what seems to be a 'P' in the middle, where the hold for the 'D' would normally be. The straight edge of the 'D' is kind of stylized, like it's racing in the other direction, you know?

A 'D' and a 'P'. Coincidence?

Maybe. I don't know. **(11)**

But I will get better at this. I will stop having power mishaps (I've come to realize that they are ghost powers. I'll just have to accept that.). I don't know what lies ahead of me, but I will get through it.

Dani Phantom, out!

***pants***

**Wait…**

***pants some more***

**Woot! Longest thing ever! Like, seven thousand words!**

**Um… explanation time!**

**Numero Uno: If any of you have read "Restart" or "The Fairly Odd Phantoms" (I forget which, and the computer I'm typing this on doesn't have Internet), you'll know that I calculated the actual accident date to be March 1****st****, since the show aired on April 3****rd**** and Danny claims that he'd had his powers "for a month".**

**Number Two: 2004 was really a leap year. Do the math.**

**Number Three: Big explanation here. I thought it would be cool if the portal accident was like a 'death interrupted' thing. So I always hear the "I see the light" phrase and stuck that in there, while also getting her out of there before she actually reached death. For the wrist pain, see 11. And if anybody can guess who said those words, they… I don't know. Get a FF cookie! 8D**

**Numero Cuatro: Intangibility, a mystery no one has been able to solve. I think. But my theory is that when a ghost turns intangible, they are basically turning into a cloud in the form of their body with details. I don't know, it's hard to explain.**

**Number Five: Another theory: whereas a ghost can imagine the opposite for intangibility/invisibility (or in Danny(ni) and Vlad's case, transformation), they have to kind of tell themselves subconsciously to do things like fly, shoot an ectobeam, etc.**

**Number Six: Personal connection! The other day, my social studies teacher got so mad at a student he like, slammed a desk into the wall. I was in English, but it was loud. And he was **_**mad**_**…**

**Number Seven: Y'know? The Ides of March? Baaaaaddd stuffs…**

**Number Eight: Okay, you know how in "Mystery Meat" the two of them seem awfully surprised when Danny transforms and flies off to encounter the Lunch Lady? Boom.**

**Numero… Nueve, I think: As best as I can remember, too. Like I said, no Internet on this computer.**

**Number Ten: No mention of the name 'Danny(ni) Phantom' in the first episode, so I just thought, what if he(she) came up with it on the spot in the second episode? How's that for cool?**

**Number Eleven: Okay, that's just my own twist to things. I thought it would be neat. And like foreshadowing, although I'm guessing the majority of you have seen "Memory Blank".**

***more panting***

**I'm seriously considering making this a two-shot, although the next chapter would be a lot shorter than this. Normally, I would split the entries of this thing into multiple chapters, but since I have to transfer it onto my flash drive and then to a computer with Internet, I thought it to be too much work. If I do make a second chapter, it would take place right near the end of "Phantom Planet". Probably where she explains things to her parents.**

**Alright, I'm shutting up now!**

**-CatchingWind**


	2. IMPORTANT NOTICE

**Hey, world of FanFiction! CW here with an announcement!**

**Obviously, this isn't an update or a new chapter or whatever, but it could be! How, you ask? It's very simple:**

**On my profile, I'm holding a poll: which story should I make a rewrite of? Simple, right? Exactly!**

**I've chosen eight of my favorite/most popular stories that I feel I can improve on, and I'm leaving it up to you, the readers, to decide which one I'll rewrite/continue.**

**Like I said, it's so simple! Just go to my profile, click on the poll at the very top, and vote for this story or another favorite of yours. I'll be keeping close tally of the votes.**

**To make this feel more official, I do have just a few guidelines, but they're not anything, really. Here they are:**

***1* The poll closes on August 31****st****, 2013 (8-31-13). I'm setting this deadline so I'll have time to write it. I want to get the winner up by my birthday, which is 9-20. Just make sure to cast your vote by then!**

***2* I've set the rules so that you can vote for a maximum of two (2) stories. I do this so that you won't complain about not being able to choose. You're welcome. :)**

***3* I don't know if this is possible on these polls, but please vote one time only! I don't want this to be swayed in any way, so vote once.**

***4* You don't necessarily have to vote for this story. Like I said, there are eight (8) choices, and you can pick your favorite(s) of them. I also encourage you to read the ones you're not sure about!**

***5* If a one-shot does win, I will rewrite that one, but I will also rewrite the runner-up oneshot as well, just to make sure that everybody's happy.**

**Anyway, pretty please take the time to vote! I want this to be a birthday treat for me and a fun treat for you guys. Like I said, take the time to read the other options if you'd like, and most importantly, CAST YOUR VOTE(S)!**

**Thanks so much for your continued support and encouragement! As for current stories, especially **_**Exchangeability**_**, I'm working on getting them updated, so stay tuned!**

**Vote for your favorite for the 2013 CW Redux!**

**-CatchingWind**


End file.
